


To Be Needed

by Emono



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Borderlands AU, Canon-Typical Violence, Cybernetics, Daddy Kink, Dan is basically Rhys but different background story, Dirty Talk, Eventual Smut, Geoff is Handsome Jack, M/M, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Scenting, Sugar Daddy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-14 18:49:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7185818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emono/pseuds/Emono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Handsome Geoff rule the galaxy with a bloody fist. But he has one soft spot - a cute boy he rescued from Earth with cyber ware and a dazzling smile. He'd give the boy every world on a string if he asked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dan's Attack I

**So, I accidentally did this. It wouldn't get out of my head. I have four more small installments to do. I'll probably make this two chapters and the other two stand alones - one porn and one gore. Basically it's a Borderlands AU but off-kilter. Hyperion = Bloodgulch**

**BASICALLY - it's Jack/Rhys but I made it Geoff/Dan because it's my life and I'll do what I want**

 

* * *

 

 

 _Handsome Geoff_ . What a ridiculous name for a violent, charismatic, high end arms dealer who ran his company Bloodgulch with a manic laugh and an iron fist. He’d started the name back in his youth out of pride and as he climbed the ladder and slit some throats it sort of _stuck_ . He did encourage it once he was in the CEO chair because - _hey_ \- what Alpha didn’t like their ego stroked? He knew he was getting on in years despite how fit he kept himself and how many youth treatments he had his science goonies pumping out. Forty was coming fast and his grinning face plastered all over posters and merchandise was still an ego trip that he would never give up.

 

There were few things that kept Geoff feeling young, that gave him the energy he needed to live up to the giant persona he’d crafted for himself. A few things he needed to keep not only his company in line, not just the entire space station in line, but the bandits and hooligans and rebels down on Earth who didn’t like having a dictator floating in the sky literally above their heads.

 

Hot coffee, stiff drinks, an old fashioned strangulation, the heat of a gun after a rapid fire, and…

 

“There you are, kitten!”

 

o0o

 

Dan was used to getting weird looks. He knew how he appeared - slim jeans, sleeveless top, thick belt, the goggles he kept either around his throat or attached to the hip. He was every inch a commoner, a builder monkey from the lower decks without an ounce of power or worth to his name. Bloodgulch logo on his shoes and the fake leather cuffs buckled to his wrists, the red of the company’s colors painted on his nails and in the swirls of the tattoo he had going up his arm. He was a Bloodgulch poster boy, one of thousands who dressed in the company’s color and symbols to look like they belonged somewhere.

 

Dan loved the work he did. He got to put his hands on the guns Bloodgulch made, helped fine tune them and work out the bugs. He wasn’t a code jockey like his friends though that was the most popular and much-needed job position on the station, he didn’t have the head for it. But practical work, Engineering and Ammunition, _that_ was where he shined.

 

The stares he got weren’t just from horror at his social status making its way to the upper decks, they were also because of his cyber ware. A gift from Handsome Geoff himself, product of a horrible attack on Earth that had left him crippled. It was his luck that the CEO had been visiting the dirt pit, showing his face to the commoners to make sure they remembered who was in charge. Dan had traveled to where the Bloodgulch camp had been set up to try and sell some of his guns to the guards there to make some fast cash.

 

Instead he’d arrived just as an assassination group had launched their attack to take out the vicious dictator and he’d gotten caught up in the middle of it.

 

Dan shook off the the first hint of tremors. Now wasn’t the time to relive that nightmare. He drew his robotic arm around his middle like someone was trying to take it away. The plates were neatly aligned and polished but they were still Bloodgulch red, highly noticeable even in a packed crowd. His ECHO eye implant was the same blood red and glowed gold when he powered up his data-accessing abilities. People really loved to stare at that.

 

All of that built on the fact that he’d stopped taking suppressants. He didn’t play as a Beta anymore. Even with Bloodgulch’s reputation, Omegas were safer on the space station than down on Earth.

 

He loved both pieces of tech. They were his treasures, a gift from a blood-thirsty and maniacal CEO who he _adored_ . Though he grew up on Earth, he always admired Handsome Geoff and his empire. Doing what he did was not an easy feat - creating and developing a product out of nothing, building a company, taking control of _everything_ , becoming the most powerful man in the galaxy!

 

Dan was getting giddy just thinking about it. _What a man._

 

Handsome Geoff was his hero and he strove to be like him. That’s why he’d traveled two sectors just to be near him, to have the chance to show him a gun that just maybe he’d love and want to buy. Dan had been hoping to score a job interview, to possibly go up to the space station and see it _just once_. Instead he’d booked a job, a full ride, a horrific set of injuries, and his own Bloodgulch tech designed just for him.

 

The guards knew Dan and let him through to the executive lobby, then on into the golden elevator that went up to the board rooms and Geoff’s office. A place with enough booby traps to kill an army and a personal airlock room that was hidden behind an equally dangerous gun rack. A place Dan felt strangely safe inside when Geoff was there.

 

Dan smiled to himself as he watched the numbers go up on the screen. No matter how many times he came to see Geoff it was still an exciting rip. It was so hard to believe the most powerful man to exist in a hundred years wanted to talk to him, to be around him.

 

Dan knew very well he was a nobody. A Dirt Boy, Earth Scum, a dusty rat who wasn’t good for anything else but target practice. Yet Geoff saved him, protected him, showed him a kindness that he rarely ever showed to _anyone_. Geoff had promised to take care of him.

 

What a lucky Omega he was.

 

The doors opened to the grand hallway that led up to the red and gold double doors and he lost his breath for a moment. It had been less than a year up on the station - maybe one day he would get used to the grandeur and flashy shows of wealth. That day wasn’t today. He hurried down the hall, bypassing the personal guards who barely blinked an eye at him. They knew better, Geoff had seen to that. The guard by the door even opened the door for him with a curt nod. The modicum of respect made Dan blush a little but he nodded back and slipped into the office.

 

And there he was.

 

Handsome Geoff was such a sight even sitting down, the measure that all other Alphas stacked themselves against. Sleeves rolled up to show off the intricate ink of his tattoos, a couple buttons undone to give a peek of chest hair that was starting to get the same flicks of grey that were shining in his hair. The start of a strong beard along his jaw, piercing blue eyes that could come off as lazy to lull a person into a false sense of security before going razor sharp. His clothes cost more than Dan could ever make and cut tight to his strapping form, sending all kinds tingles through the Omega’s thighs.

 

“There you are, kitten!” Geoff bellowed before slapping his palm on the desk. “Get over here.”

 

No one disobeyed an order from Handsome Geoff. Dan hurried across the room and tried to sit in the seat across from the CEO but got tisked at. “That’s not where you sit, cupcake.”

 

“Geoff,” Dan laughed, cheeks flaring hot.

 

Their relationship was...a strange one. A kind of affection had grown between them. With Geoff’s power trip one one side and Dan’s blind admiration on the other, they developed a sort of symbiotic relationship. Geoff genuinely admired the work Dan did and Dan admired _everything_ the Alpha created.

 

“Please?” Geoff drew out, shooting him a wink. “Indulge an old man?”

 

“You know very well you could take a half dozen twenty year olds at one time if you wanted,” Dan assured as he walked around the desk, metal fingers tapping lightly on the polished wood.  

 

“Flatterer.” Geoff caught him by the belt when he was close enough and pulled him in. Dan laughed as he was easily grabbed by the hips and sat on the edge of the desk. He was right in front of the Alpha, legs dangling between the man’s spread knees. It was close enough he could feel the other’s body heat, the power that rolled off him in waves. “There you go, pumpkin. Right in front of Daddy.”

 

Dan scrubbed his knuckles across his cheek as he blushed darker. Their little games always got him riled up. He was flattered Geoff showed him such attention. He’d never heard him play this cute power game with anyone else and it made him feel _special_.

 

“I haven’t seen you in days, baby,” Geoff purred lowly, nudging one of the boy’s long legs with his knee. “Where have you been hiding? Did you fuck up something and been too afraid to tell me? You know I accept chocolates and bandit heads as bribery but I don’t see either of those on your pretty little self.”

 

“Just working on your elemental pistol upgrades,” Dan replied with an easy smile. “And I’ve been doing damn good if I do say myself. No hiding.”

 

Geoff hummed and tilted his head, looking him over critically. “If you didn’t fuck up, then maybe somebody sent my favorite boy here to give me some bad news?”

 

“Never,” Dan promised coyly. “I’m no one’s messenger but yours, Geoff. Promise.”

 

“That’s good to hear.” He flashed him a grin, knuckles to his cheek. “No bad news, no mistakes...that must mean you want money, pumpkin.” He put on a big pout. “Why do you only come to see me when you need something?”

 

Dan knew he was kidding but it still sent a bolt of panic into his chest. “That’s not true! I-I love coming to see you, Geoff. We’re both busy and I work on the other side of the station. I can come more, sir. I never want to waste your time!”

 

Geoff barked out a laugh. “Calm it down, sugar cookie, you know I’m only joking.” The CEO’s pet names got more ridiculous when he was in a good humor so Dan quickly calmed. Sometimes Geoff’s moods were hard to pinpoint but the Alpha had only raised his voice to him in anger a few times. Geoff was always good at getting Dan away from him before he got into one of his rages. “What do you need?”

 

“My heat’s coming up,” Dan started, watching an array of emotions cross the Alpha’s face. He squirmed as he saw what he wanted to see. They’d never touched each other past a slap on the ass, they weren’t like that. Not that he didn’t crave it every night when he went to sleep but it just could never happen. He wished desperately that Geoff had feelings for him but Handsome Geoff didn’t _do_ feelings, he didn’t love people. Dan was so low on the food chain he should have counted his lucky stars for getting what he did.

 

The games they played, the friendship they had - he couldn’t ruin it. If he told Geoff about his innermost thoughts, his secret desires, he’d be laughed right off the space station. He couldn’t risk what he had, not when his dreams were coming true.

 

Geoff flicked on his ECHO device and flipped through to the calendars. There were hundreds of dots with notes attached to them but only one golden star. “Next week. Been three months already? Shit.”

 

“I need some time off for it, please,” Dan asked, the bottom of his shoes skimming the floor. “I asked my manager but he was... _yeah_. Geoff!” He watched the Alpha’s nostrils flare and he knew what was coming. “He’s just being a stubborn knothead is all. No reason to kill him, okay? I just knew it’d be better to come straight to you. You’re my real boss anyway.”

 

“I’m your _only_ boss,” Geoff growled out.

 

Dan nodded quickly. “Of course.”

 

The CEO soured, slumping in his seat. “So. Who are you, uh...going to spend your heat with?”  


“Isn’t that a stunningly personal question?” Dan flustered, hands fiddling in his lap.

 

“You can do whatever you want, cupcake, as long as you’re not spending it with that ridiculous Beta you’ve been dating. Dwayne, right?”

 

“ _Ray_ and I are not dating,” Dan clarified for the hundredth time in two months.

 

“RayRay,” Geoff scoffed. “How could I forget.”

 

“We’re taking things slow, if anything. We’re only seeing each other.”

 

Geoff’s fingers drummed harshly on the arm of the chair. “You better not be fucking him! My boy deserves better than some pissant Alpha brat from R&D.”

 

“Not that it’s _any_ of your business,” Dan started, nudging the man’s foot with his own. “But we’ve only kissed twice and it’s been a dozen dates. I don’t think we’re really compatible but he’s my friend. So no airlocks! No accidental strangulation.” Geoff opened his mouth to say something but the Omega cut him off. “And _no_ ‘meetings about promotions’. I know that trick! He’d not a bad guy and he works hard.”

 

“He’s a useless sack of skag shit and you deserve miles better, cupcake. I’m watching out for you! He gives me a bad vibe. I would’ve killed him by now but all I thought of was your cute little pout and I couldn’t handle you being a fussy ass.”

 

“You’re so critical,” Dan scolded.

 

“I’m protecting my investment, that’s all,” Geoff brushed off easily, that charming smile coming back full force. “So ask me nicely.”

 

Dan’s chest flooded with warmth and he eased off the desk. He bit his lower lip as he hesitated, always a little unsure when it came to these painfully intimate moments. Geoff waggled his eyebrows at him and it was all the assurance he needed. He slid into the man’s lap and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, sitting sideways because straddling the Alpha in his office was a whole different slew of fantasies. Dan purred and nosed at the man’s ear, the sound growing louder as big hands settled at the dip of his back and the swell of his thigh.

 

“There’s my good little boy.” Geoff’s hand rubbed along his back and it was a guilty comfort. “I told you a long time ago that you come to me for anything you need. Daddy’s going to take care of you from now on. Ask me for anything, baby, anything at all.”

 

Dan shivered and played a hand over the Alpha’s chest, breath hitching as his fingers slid beneath the buttons of his silk shirt. “Can I please have a week off for my heat, Daddy?” His lips trailed down to Geoff’s throat, delighted at the way his breath had goosebumps cropping up. “And some new bedding for my nest?”

 

“Of course, sugar,” Geoff rumbled, hand sliding up to cup the Omega’s nape. He tilted Dan’s head back and buried his face in his throat, lips skimming the soft skin as he scented his boy. Dan cooed happily and let him have his way, fingers pawing lightly at the Alpha’s shoulder. If Geoff’s attention made him flustered, getting scented was by far the greatest honor he’d ever been given. It always had the Omega swooning and hobbling back to his apartment with a blissful high.

 

“You’re the best,” Dan sighed, trying not to grunt in protest when Geoff finally released his throat and put a little distance between them.

 

“Am I?” Geoff urged with that shit eating grin.

 

Dan boldly cupped the man’s jaw and brushed their noses. “Best Daddy ever.”

 

Geoff let out the smallest of noises before smacking him on the thigh. “Okay, Daddy’s got a boner. Get up and off.”

 

“Get off?” Dan echoed innocently. He yelped when he was shoved off the CEO’s lap but it turned into a giggle. He was flushed and preening, covered in the powerful Alpha’s scent. “Sir, we should keep things professional. You are my _boss_ , after all.”

 

“And you’re a little shithead.” Geoff snapped his fingers impatiently. “I’ll get you everything you need and have it sent to your shithole apartment, kiddo. Don’t worry about anything.”

 

Dan ducked down and chastely kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”

 

He gasped in surprise when Geoff snagged his collar, voice a mere husk. “You have fifteen seconds to get your pert ass out of my office before you spend your heat _right_ here bent over my desk and warming my cock. You got that, baby?”

 

Dan squeaked and blushed all the way up to his hairline, trembling so bad his knees almost gave out. “Y-Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!”

 

Geoff leaned back and gave him a wink before delivering a firm smack to his ass. “Go be brilliant. Leave those other grease monkeys something fun to develop while you’re in bed like a spoiled little bitch.”

 

Dan’s dick throbbed and he realized his jeans were _way_ too tight. He bolted out of there as fast as he could, tripping over his feet twice before getting out the door.

 

Geoff watched his ass the whole way. “God, I love that little cyber muffin.”

 

o0o

 

Geoff got a text message later that night from his boy.

 

 **Pretty Boy:** _Geoff! I didn’t say you had to make it a paid vacation! WTF_  
**Pretty Boy:** _stop wasting ur money u give me too much_

 

“Oh baby,” Geoff murmured to his ECHO, sheets wrapped around his bare waist and half a glass of brandy warming his chest. “I’d give you a heck of a lot more if I didn’t think I’d ruin you.” He turned off the device without replying. “God damn. If I had you here…”

 

Geoff slept fitfully that night, his very dreams echoing with the reminder that he was a disgusting monster and taking Dan as his own would destroy the sweet Omega.

  
  
  



	2. Dan's Attack II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan's heat doesn't go as planned.

Geoff hadn’t been scared in a long time. Like, a _real_ long time. It was one of the perks of owning _everything_ and keeping everyone under your thumb. He had an army of grunts and robots at his disposal, every gun Bloodgulch had ever made, and his own natural cunning and strength that he wore like armor (along with his _actual_ armor). He wasn’t exactly ‘safe’ persay but he was certainly well protected. The bandits down on Earth? The rebels? They didn’t scare him by a shit mile. They were crud covered dust bunnies who lived between the cracks of his boot.

 

Geoff didn’t like to show even the slightest shade of vulnerability in front of his coworkers. The damn peons would take it and run with it right to his competitors. He was a giant persona, an inflated reputation - he couldn’t budge an inch. He had to be ten feet tall and made of steel every minute of the day.

 

Which was exactly why when he got a call on his ECHO from Dan, he barked at the room of board members to leave. “Showtime’s over, kiddos! Get the fuck out and come up with a better song and dance. You’re boring Daddy and you know how he gets when he’s fucking _bored_.”

 

He stared them down from his chair until they’d all scattered, papers flying behind them as they hurried to get out of presence. They knew they were all a minute away from a bullet in the head when he got into a mood. He was excited to hear from the Omega in the start of his heat even if it was just some kind of check in before he disappeared for a few days.

 

Geoff was floating thoughts of breathless whimpers and hitches as he answered the call. “I just scared the shit out of Advertising and I gotta’ thank you for that. What’s up, pumpkin?”

 

_‘G-Geoff…’_

 

Geoff sat up straight. Dan’s voice was trembling on a broken breath. There was no video for his ECHO, just an audio feed. “Turn on your visual, Daniel. What the fuck is going on?”

 

Dan started sobbing and the Alpha shot up, staring down at his device like he could will it to show him what was happening. “Turn on your fucking eye!”

 

Dan cried out like he’d been struck, wailing in distress. _‘H-help, I-I need-’_

 

“Where are you?” Geoff was already up and moving. “Who’s with you?”

 

 _‘Home.’_ The word sounded like it was pried out from between his teeth, tight and choked. _‘Alone now. Pl-please, Geoff. Scared.’_

 

“Stay put, baby. I’m coming.”

 

o0o

 

Geoff had his master key ready to slide through Dan’s apartment’s keypad but to his horror he didn’t have to. The door was wide open and there was a sour odor rolling into the hallway. It smelled like a botched heat, like an endangered Omega soaked in fear. He went inside with his assault rifle leading the way, the site dancing all over the apartment as he searched for an intruder. Nothing was overturned or destroyed but the stench was all over. Dan was in here and he was freaking out.

 

There was something else in the room. Tart like cranberries and Alpha musk. It was vaguely familiar. He sniffed the air, brow furrowing up as he flipped through a mental rolodex of Alphas he’d encountered. There were hundreds but this one felt recent. It hit him hard and his breath left in a sharp hiss.

 

As much as he joked about Narvaez being a pathetic Beta, the kid was undeniably an Alpha. _And he’d been here._

 

“Daniel!” Geoff barked, kicking the door shut as he puffed up. “If there’s anyone else in here, you’re fucking _dead_ so make your piece with your pathetic god _now_.”

 

A whine came from the bedroom and he slipped the rifle into the sheath on his back. Geoff ran to the bedroom and smacked the door open, nostrils flaring as he got hit with the source of the scent along with a coppery tang that had his stomach bottoming out. The last time he smelled Dan’s blood the boy was half dead and missing pieces. It was something he promised would never happen again and here it was on repeat.

 

Dan was in his bed, naked and trembling without even a sheet around his hips to hide his modesty. His boy was naturally tan but now he was blanched white. That only made the ruby red of his blood stand out in striking contrast. Dan was bleeding from his ECHO eye in one thick rivulet, the device still in place but two deep scratches cutting along the lid and on the soft skin beneath. He was clutching his shoulder but his fingers were smeared with red little trickles working down his robotic arm. His natural eye was bloodshot and spilling endless tears as he sobbed.

 

Something was horribly wrong with his scent.

 

“Dan?” Geoff rushed to his side, slowing to a tentative crawl as he tried not to jostle the hurt Omega. He braced a knee on the bed and a hand on the wall, leaning over and very gently cupping Dan’s jaw. His thumb smeared through the blood and the heat of it made him sick. Dan was one of the few people in the galaxy he didn’t want to see hurt. Having the boy looking up at him with such helplessness broke his little black heart. “Oh, baby.”

 

Geoff kept a cool exterior but inside he was raging with a white hot anger that could destroy the entire space station if he let it. He was freaking the fuck out. All he wanted to do was hunt Narvaez down and rip the boy’s kidney with his teeth. Dig his hands into the brat’s soft stomach and rip him out piece by piece, lay them out beside him so he could watch himself die. Put a knife between his ribs and pry them out through the skin, pluck out his teeth, scoop out his eyes with a spork, make a damn rug out of his skin-

 

“Alpha?” Dan murmured, dragging him out of his violent streak. Geoff took a long breath to calm down before sitting on the bed. He took Dan’s flesh hand and moved it away from the wound despite the chitter of protest. “Hurts.”

 

“I know, pumpkin. Let Daddy see.”

 

Geoff urged his hand down and examined the injury. It wasn’t the worst it could’ve been but it was bad. The cybernetic arm looked like it had been pried at where flesh met metal. There were little cuts around the point of contact and it was hanging a little off like it wasn’t responding to the nerves controlling it, hanging under its own weight. The surface around the shoulder was scratched up badly from some kind of tool. It would need some heavy maintenance to reconnect the torn wires, repair the connection. It could easily be done but Dan must have been feeling pulses of pain all the way to his core.

 

Geoff took another breath, forcing down all the bubbling thoughts of murder. “Take a deep breath. Tell me what happened.”

 

It was Dan’s turn to take a breath. It rattled through his whole body and Geoff thought the Omega was going to fall apart. He’d only seen his boy so fragile once before and he swore this was the last time he let something like this happen. The Omega clung to his arm with his flesh hand, fingers curling in the material of his shirt. That stare...his ECHO eye was damaged, he could see the flickering deep in his iris. _Poor darling. Bet he can’t see a damn thing._

 

“Ray...Geoff, he…”

 

Geoff pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead. “Take your time. Tell Daddy everything. What did that little pissant do?”

 

“He put something in me,” Dan admitted, tilting his head to show where the hypo had marked him. Geoff grit his teeth. Hypos weren’t made to press against flesh, they were designed for the least possible pain and contact with injections. The round burn was from an attack, done with force to subdue. “I let him in. I’m so stupid, I was falling into heat and he smelled so good...I-I didn’t see the harm. He’d always been so nice.”

 

Fresh tears trickled from his human eye, blood turning tacky around the other.

 

Geoff felt like his fangs were grinding to dull points but he kept himself docile. “Were you going to share your heat with him?”

 

“Yes,” Dan choked, lip wobbling. “I’m sorry, Geoff. You said you didn’t trust him and I wasn’t thinking straight. He was so sweet to me, I-I fell for it. He drugged me.”

 

The rage flared back up but he swallowed it down. “And he did this?”

 

“I passed out I think.” Dan looked down, weakly flexing his metal hand. The digits twitched on their own. There was no doubt the wiring was damaged. “I woke up and...he was on top of me.” He raised his gaze again and his fingers tightened in the Alpha’s shirt. “He had some kind of pry bar and there was a portable laser cutter on his belt. When I saw it I realized h-he was going to take my tech.”

 

That was cold, even by Geoff’s standards. Try and seduce an Omega, befriend him, come to him in the first hour of his heat to drug them and rob them blind. It was dirty and cruel. He airlocked people who pissed him off into the icy vacuum of space but he wouldn’t stand for Bloodgulch cyber ware to be _ripped_ from their owners. Especially not Omegas. _Especially_ not his Daniel.

 

Dan squirmed under his stare. “I fought him, I swear.”

 

“I know you did, baby,” Geoff rumbled as soothingly as he could, fingers brushing his ear. He couldn’t stop looking at the Omega’s eye wound, two distinct scratches alongside the silvery scars from the surgery. Narvaez had tried to _dig_ the ECHO eye out of a drugged, distressed Omega. _And I thought I was the monster._

 

Dan shuddered into another sob. “ _Daddy_.”

 

That kicked Geoff right in the ass. He pressed their cheeks and rumbled lowly, murder getting pushed into the back of his mind as he focused on his boy. “Okay, baby, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to get you into some clothes and then I’m going to take you straight to my doc, alright kitten?”

 

“Not safe,” Dan protested, hand shooting up to clutch his wounded tech.

 

Geoff touched his chin. “Do you think for one second that Daddy would take you outside if he thought you were in any danger?”

 

Dan frowned but shook his head. “Heat?”

 

“Pumpkin, you smell like a stress beacon,” Geoff admitted. “Not a trace of heat on you anymore. Any Alpha smelling you would either run or beg to help.”

 

“Just you.” Dan flexed his metal hand again and flinched at the small shock he got. “Can I see Dr. Griffon again?”

 

“Of course,” Geoff agreed as he got up to retrieve some clothes from the dresser. Griffon was a good woman, a damn good cybernetic doctor with five degrees in robotics from three different planets. She was well traveled and had enough experience for three doctors twice her age. She was the doc he’d brought in to give Dan his replacement pieces. He trusted the Alpha as much as he could anyone besides Dan and that was a hard earned feat. He didn’t often work with Alphas but Griffon could dish out shit and was endlessly interesting, and he appreciated that. “I’ll call her when we get there. She’ll patch you up, pumpkin, don’t you worry. You’ll be pain free and good as new in a couple of hours.”

 

Dan reached for him with his flesh arm, biting his lip. “Daddy…?”

 

“I’m right here, baby doll. Give Daddy a second to get your clothes.”

 

o0o

 

Despite Geoff’s assurances, he made sure to summon a small army of intimidating Loaders to escort them to Medical Bay. He carried the Omega the whole way, cradling him protectively as the Loaders shielded them from view of the general public. They kept a wide berth but Geoff kept the hood of the Omega’s jacket up over his head, face tucked against his shoulder.

 

No one knew how close they were and it was better to keep it that way.

 

Griffon was down on Earth scavenging for parts and getting “inspiration” but after a quick ECHO she promised to be at the station within the next few hours.

 

But Burnie was prepped and ready to go the moment they got there. He swept Dan away and put him in a diagnostic pod, putting him through scans and blood tests to figure out the worst of the damage. Burnie pumped the kid full of painkillers and stopped the bleeding before anything else, letting him drift off to sleep for the worst of it.

 

“Give it to me straight, doc,” Geoff drawled as he looked down into the healing chamber. The glass was tinted a light blue but he could clearly see Dan so peacefully laid out within it. He was dozing and laid out with sensors, temporary bandages over his eye and shoulder. He was more bruised up than Geoff had originally noticed and he felt sick over it.

 

“Whoever did this needs to be beaten, de-ribbed, and gutted,” Burnie snarled, silver ring tapping against the clipboard. “And if he’s still alive after, stuff his intestines down his creaming throat. What sick fuck would do this to a nice kid like Dan? Fucking shit.”

 

Geoff rumbled in agreement. “Narvaez. That kid signed his own death warrant the second he stepped into Dan’s apartment.”

 

“He was drugged,” Burnie admitted, scanning over the pages of test results. “Some kind of cocktail from the dirt ball. The black market cooks up a lot of gross shit but thankfully they’re all idiots. This should have knocked him out cold but it clashed with all the shit heat pumps into an Omega. Seems he woke up halfway through this fuckhead trying to pry his arm off. No signs of sexual trauma but from the defensive wounds I would say Narvaez panicked when Dan woke up and tried to scratch out his God damn eye to try and salvage something. This Bloodgulch tech goes for some serious ecredit down on Earth.”

 

Burnie clicked his ring more sharply and shot a glare at the CEO. “I’m not saying he’s a spy-”

 

“But he’s probably a spy.”

 

“-is what I’m saying.”

 

“That dust rat is fucked,” Geoff hissed, knuckles white as his hands curled into fists.

 

“Good-ish sort of news? This stuff triggered Dan’s flight-or-fight response really fucking hard.”

 

“What’s that mean for him?”

 

“His heat is officially _over_ ,” Burnie replied, tossing the clipboard onto the metal tray table. “At least for this cycle.”

 

Geoff scratched the back of his neck, frowning. “I think I heard that once? If an Omega gets stressed out it can knock them out of heat.”

 

“Yep.” The doctor popped the ‘p’. “You better make this little fucker pay. Dan is a sweet kid and he deserves way better than the shit he’s been given.” Burnie rested his fingertips on the glass of the healing chamber. “First those God forsaken little pissants take his arm, ruin his eye. You give it back to him and they get someone in here to jump him in his heat and try to dig them back out?”

 

“If Earth wasn’t packed full of Eridium, I would destroy it and move on. That place is nothing but nightmares for my boy.” He scrubbed a hand through the scruff of his beard. “I want to take him out of here.”

 

The vulnerable statement made him wince but he knew Burnie had a fondness for Dan, a protective streak running through the other Alpha ever since he’d put the wounded Omega in his arms and told him to patch him up.

 

Dan started to squirm, his visible eye twitching briefly before opening. The Omega seemed groggy at first but then a visible flash of panic swept over his face. Burnie punched the release button and the chamber hissed as the lid detached before retracting into the wall. A burst of high oxygenated, vitamin-infused air hit their faces along with the scent of fear. Dan no longer smelled sour as the drugs had been flushed out of his system and any trace of heat had vanished.

 

“Hey Dan,” Burnie cooed down at him, personality flipping one-eighty as he smiled and leaned over the chamber. Dan simpered at them both, fear fading as relief swept through him. “You’re going to be okay, little buddy. No permanent damage. You fought like a champ and everything is still mostly in place. Nothing Grif can’t fix up.”

 

Dan tried to sit up but couldn’t manage on his own. Geoff walked around to the other side of the pod and laid the Omega back down with a tisking noise. “Knock it off, cupcake. You need the rest.”

 

“I’m okay,” Dan croaked.

 

“You will be,” Burnie promised. “A good night’s rest here with us and a visit from Grif, and you’ll be more than okay.”

 

Dan let Geoff take his hand and squeeze it, a content noise leaving him. “Maybe she can touch up my paint?”

 

“She’ll demand to, seeing how scuffed up you are,” Geoff joked lightly, glad to hear the boy chuckle. “There’s my cutiepie.”

 

Dan rubbed his hand over his face, fingers lingering on the bandage. “I’m sorry, Geoff. I didn’t listen to you. I didn’t play it safe. I let him in.”

 

“Don’t worry about that for a second, baby, you fought like hell and you called me. That’s all you could’ve done.” Geoff brought the kid’s hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to his scuffed knuckles. “That fucker was going to get into your apartment one way or another. You’re alive. That’s the most important thing to me, got it?”

 

Dan made a soft little sound and nodded, his smile returning. “Thank you for coming.”

 

“I’m always going to come.” Geoff winked, getting another little laugh out of the Omega. “Now, baby doll, cupcake, until I _catch_ Narvaez, you’re going to have at least one of my badass Loaders with you, okay? I’m going to design two just for you and you’re going to be staying in the penthouse with me until it all blows over.”

 

Dan’s eye went wide. “Really? You’d...want me there?”

 

“Baby. It’s an _order_.”

  
  
  
  



	3. How It Began (aka: Dan loses an arm and an eye)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan tries to sell his best gun to the Bloodgulch camp just as it's attcked by bandits. He gets caught up in the crossfire. Geoff doesn't know why he takes pity on the torn up Omega kid but he does. There's something special about him.

**Super long chap, medium length gore. We get to meet Griffon and spend more time with Burnie. Dan literally loses his limb and eye in this chap so it's basically super angsty and then Geoff and Dan scent like cuties**

 

* * *

 

 

“I hate this fucking dirt ball,” Geoff muttered, arms crossed over his chest and feet kicked up on the desk they’d set up for him in his tent. His scouting team had chosen the most defendable clearing in a hundred miles to set up their base camp. He was here to show face and to lead his army of Loaders and soldiers against a certain bandit camp that was growing too strong to be left alone. They were fifty miles away and his mass teleporters were ready to drop him and his army down on top of their stupid little heads. The Bloodgulch space station was between Earth’s moon and the planet, a circular reminder of his power and his ever-watchful gaze. The Eye of the station could beam them down more Loaders if things went south.

 

He wasn’t worried but he was bored as fuck waiting for everything to get set up.

 

“Sir?”

 

He shot a glare at one of his generals. Kovic. Cute kid, bloodthirsty as they come, but with a healthy amount of fear and respect for Geoff that kept him relatively safe in his position. Geoff had never felt the urge to wrap his hands around Kovic’s throat except for the occasional daydream about fucking the general over his desk for a job well done. _I bet no one dares choke a big guy like him. He’d love it._

 

“What?”

 

“We’re officially two hours from departure.”

 

“ _Two hours?_ ”

 

“I told them if they changed the time again you would personally march them off the east cliffside,” Adam deadpanned, keeping his face carefully neutral.  

 

“Two fucking hours,” Geoff snarled, though he wasn’t anywhere near his limit for patience. “Not one minute longer. Tell them I threatened to snap your neck, keep them on their toes.”

 

Adam’s lips twitched like he was going to smile and Geoff flashed his fangs. “Unless you’d like me to _actually_ threaten to snap your pretty neck, cupcake? I can easily chase you down with your fat ass in that armor.”

 

“No need, sir. I’ll tell the generals.”

 

Kovic bowed and walked out.

 

“Cute, overly formal brat,” Geoff huffed, a chuckle riding the end of his words. He pulled out his ECHO device and flicked it on, sorting through his games with a hum. “Two fucking hours. Idiots.”

 

o0o

 

Dan whooped in delight as he hit a dirty hill and kicked up dust, soaring over the ridge and landing so hard it kicked the breath out of him. His helmet muffled his breathless laugh as his tires caught the ground and sped him forward. His four-wheeler was a hunk of junk he’d cobbled together but it was his baby and it hardly ever let him down. It outran the bandits and got him from place to place. The cool breeze hit his throat and the fingers exposed past his cut off gloves. His heart was racing a mile a minute and his jaw hurt from smiling.

Today was the day. A camp from Bloodgulch had settled to take on that bastard Gus and his following. It wasn’t public knowledge but he always had his feelers out for something just like this. People from Bloodgulch never came down, from the station or just the company itself. They didn’t have any cities on the Earth so it was rare for anything other than the Loaders to be seen and those were only around the Eridium mines.

 

But now there was a camp settled down. That means there was a _chance_. Dan had his bag hooked to the four wheeler and a hard case strapped tight to his back. The sniper rifle he’d made from scratch was in there, protected and ready to be shown. He had big aspirations that started with little moments like this. If he could make it to the camp and show whoever was in charge his gun, give a pitch about the perfect site and scope and all the elemental mods that could be added to it. The sleek design, the great handfeel, and even the long-term goals of heat-seaking elements being added in if a larger scope were made.

Bloodgulch had the tech and the money to make his simple (yet perfect) gun to the next level. All he had to do was show it to the right person. He could sell it to a Bloodgulch General, get his name passed around. He didn’t want fame, riches, a job. All he wanted was enough money to feed himself and his friends, sell guns, and get _one_ free trip up to the space station.

 

Dan finally caught sight of the gold and red tents peeking out from behind the mountains. He took the path around to the mouth of the canyon and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to scream in delight or throw up. He slid to a stop a safe distance away and turned it off, shucking off his helmet and      standing up in the foot guards. He stretched, tilting his head back until he could see the moon. Elpis, dark with crimson cracks that looked like exotic spider webs stretched across the surface. And in front of that was Bloodgulch, named for the arms-turned-everything company that inspired it. Sleek and round, curving to a top at each end and fat in the middle like an eye. The pupil was red and glowed ominously, more powerful than it looked.

 

Dan sighed in admiration. Bloodgulch. _Handsome Geoff._ God, what he wouldn’t give to show his gun to that man. It was a slim chance that Handsome Geoff would be in the camp and if he was there was an even slimmer chance he could get close to the man. Not that he’d want to, he wouldn’t know what to say and he would for _sure_ throw up on his shoes and then get a bullet in the head. He would be over the damn moon if Geoff saw or touched his gun. Dan knew he was the lowest of the low on the food chain but to step foot on Bloodgulch would be his every dream come true. Sell his design, get a glimpse of the manufacturing…

 

See Elpis up close.

 

Dan’s heart gave another nervous flutter. He looked down at his clothes and smoothed his palms over them to try and brush off dust. It was an impossible task even when he’d put on his best clothes. The nice leather gloves and stiff boots with heavy buckles. They contrasted with his threadbare pants, the undershirt he knew was ripped that he’d covered in a vest and a light jacket. He took the red bandana out of his pocket and tied it around his neck, going for a casual display of the Bloodgulch colors. No one wore the colors because no one supported the company or the CEO but he didn’t care.

 

Dan looked up to Handsome Geoff and everything Bloodgulch was, what it could be, and where it had come from. Geoff had been a low code monkey who had climbed his way to the top. People hated him for his bloodthirst and cutthroat attitude but a little death never bothered Dan. The world was rough. Handsome Geoff was honest, smart, charismatic, and...well, _handsome_ . He was everything an Alpha should be - _powerful._

 

_‘’Fucking school boy crush. Knock it off. We’ve got work to do.’_

 

Dan set the alarm system on his bike to shock before taking a moment to fix his hair in the dirty little side mirror. Nothing in his teeth, smooth shave, professional-ish looking, and one quick sniff old him his suppressors were working fine. “Okay, Gruchy. You’re a Beta and you can sell this. Don’t think like an Omega, don’t show any fear. Respect, not fear. Respect, no fear.”

 

He repeated those words to himself a few times as he followed the rest of the cliff line to where the rocks gave way. ‘ _I can do this. I can win. I am-_ ’

 

“Don’t shoot!” Dan squealed as he came face to face with half a dozen Loaders. They were already spouting digitalized warnings, their metal claws glowing and shield-disrupters building up in front of their red lenses. His hair stood on end and he broke out into a cold sweat, stomach bottoming out. “I-I’m not a bandit! I only have one gun and it’s to sell! I want to speak to the commanding officer, any officer! A human, fuck. _Don’t shoot!_ ”

 

“Stand down.”

 

Dan relaxed as a man walked out from behind the stones. The Loaders listened instantly and powered off their weapons, staring blankly at him with their dull lenses. The man had a strong jaw but there was a softness to his eyes, a rarity on Earth. He was a tough guy for sure, built like a brick shit house and busting out of his uniform, but at least he wasn’t horrifically ugly or hulking.

 

“You, kid,” the guard barked. “Who are you?”

 

“Dan,” he replied quickly, catching a scent of Alpha pheromones.

 

“This is a restricted, classified area. Are you alone?” the Alpha turned on his ECHO and scanned the area with a suspicious frown. “Why are you here, civilian?”

 

Dan stuttered before mentally smacking himself before he got shot. “I-I came to sell.”

 

“Peddle your fucking drugs somewhere else,” the Alpha spat, gesturing at him. “Move it along.”

 

Dan’s stomach twisted. “Wait! Wait, please?”

 

The Alpha paused, eyeing him.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“I’m Lieutenant Blaine Gibson,” the Alpha replied evenly, still unsure.

 

“Lt. Gibson, sir, I’m going to take this off my back.” Dan thumbed at the case showing over his shoulder. “It’s a sniper rifle. The safety is on and I’m not going to put my fingers anywhere near the trigger. I’m here to sell it to whoever wants to buy.”

 

“Like bandits?” Blaine snapped, sending a frizzle through the Omega’s nerves.

 

“Fuck no,” Dan swore, lying through his teeth. “I’ve been waiting for real people from Bloodgulch to come down. I want to sell to you guys. With your permission…?” He trailed off, fingers curling around the buckle of the strap. The guard mulled over the idea and looked him over. Gibson scanned him with his ECHO without permission and Dan held his breath. He didn’t know what the device would say and he prayed there were no red flags attached to whatever profile Bloodgulch’s computer system had on him.

 

“You’re clean,” Gibson grunted in mild surprise. “You’re just a name in here, kid. Been under the radar, huh?”

 

“Keeping my nose clean down here,” Dan tried to joke.

 

Gibson gestured him closer. “Approach. _Slowly_. I’m going to scan it, and if I don’t have to kill you immediately I want to take a look.”

 

“Yes, sir.” Dan gave a little salute as he strode forward with purposeful, small steps. He unlatched the strap and eased the case off his back. He held it out and pressed the two button latches. Gibson took it upon himself to flip up the lid, feeling bold with his back watched by Loaders. The rifle was sleek and long, hand-painted the lightest shade of blue he could mix together. It was his best work by far. He’d scrounged the best pieces from the leftover battles between bandit camps and modified everything himself, even melding some metals to fit where he wanted.

 

Gibson’s wide eyes gave him away. “This is…”

 

Dan rattled off the specs from memory, reciting everything he’d done and everything the gun could do. Gibson tried to stay neutral but he looked impressed. He let the guard pick up the gun and test the weight, hefting it up on his shoulder and staring down the site. Dan did his best not to wiggle as pride swelled up inside him.

  
“This is pretty decent, kid,” Gibson admitted, obviously trying to play it cool. He laid the rifle back in the case. “So what’s your game here?”

 

“I was hoping to speak to one of the superior officers,” Dan offered up. “Maybe they’re looking for something like to take back to Bloodgulch for mass production.”

 

“Ambitious.” Gibson finally cracked a smile and Dan felt another wave of relief. “I like it. Dan, right?” He nodded. “Okay, Dan, you’ve convinced me. The ECHO didn’t show any other weapons but I’m going to manually pat you down before I can take you into the camp. That’s the protocol.” The guard winced. “Uh, well, the protocol is _no one_ gets in. But my CO used to be a sniper and he’s always looking for a new rifle. He sort of collects them.”

 

“Then this one will be perfect, right?” Dan grinned. “Blood free and all that? Clean up unnecessary.”

 

“I think that’s his favorite part.”

 

o0o

 

The walk to the camp was longer than it looked. The clearing was led up to by two heavy walls of stone before they gave to the flood of Loaders and tents that made up the Bloodgulch camp. Blaine was pleasant for a station-raised space man. The soldiers were usually gruff and crude but Blaine seemed to have a good humor to him. They talked about guns on the way up. Dan got to see the guard’s own assault rifle and stuffed away the specs for later projects.

 

“That’s the magazine?” Dan awed as the soldier showed him the long container that seemed jam packed with bullets. “Wow. Does the butt burn your shoulder after the hundredth round?”

 

“Specialized coating,” Blaine replied, patting his gloved palm on the butt. “It’s heat absorbent and I don’t even feel it. Well, this plus the adrenaline. It kind of blocks everything out.”

 

“No doubt.”

 

“You’ve got a pretty unique accent there,” Blain observed, his smile miles more friendly now. Dan could even admit the guard was cute. It had been a while since he’d made out with a pretty little something (and zero times he’d ever gotten into bed with one). He’d never gone for an Alpha like Blaine, or any Alpha for that matter. Most of the Alphas he met on Earth were too wild for him to trust, feral in the way they acted to keep their power secure and themselves safe. It was a dangerous planet for Omegas and he didn’t dare put himself under one of those beasts.

 

Dan already had a pack. Ryan, Michael, Gavin - he didn’t need anyone else. _Though if this guy plays his cards right, maybe._

 

“I’ve only been to Earth a couple times and I’ve heard some of the, uh, locals talk. But never like you.”

 

“I’m was raised a little south of here, a place called Hallow’s End. You heard of it?”

 

Blaine shook his head with a little hum. “Never. Do a lot of you have that accent?”

 

“A lot of families moved there,” Dan replied, hefting his case up a little more on his shoulder. “The further south you get, the more dangerous the creatures. Go north and there’s ice _and_ creatures. It’s an island. More water monsters but less bugs.”

 

Blaine actually laughed. “Well, that is a perk. The bugs I’ve seen here are nasty.”

 

Dan was about to shoot back something clever when the man’s ECHO went off. Blaine brought it up and answered. “General Kovic, sir.”

 

_’What’s your status? Any activity?’_

 

“I have a civilian here that I’m bringing into the camp. He has a gun to sell.”

 

_‘How many guns?’_

 

“One sniper rifle.”

 

There was a delighted sound over the speaker. _‘Well hot shit. Who is it?’_

 

“Some ambitious little punk named Dan.” Blaine shot him a playful grin and the Omega covered his mouth to hide his smile. “He’s unarmed and seems harmless. He claims to have built the gun himself and I-”

 

o0o

 

The bandits struck hard and fast. Somehow they’d gotten word of the Bloodgulch camp, maybe even their plans. But a whisper of their presence was enough to make Gus rally up his men and their biggest weapons.to launch a distant attack. It was strategic for a quick getaway but deadly. The shrapnel bombs were a pet project of the bandit leader and he ordered them to fall from high, taking the entire camp off guard.

 

o0o

 

Dan’s ears were filled with a sharp ringing. He couldn’t hear himself breathe. He didn’t know if he even _was_ breathing. There was smoke, so much smoke. Everything was so off-kilter. The entire world had shifted to be thrown into chaos and the only thought he had was how much grit was in his mouth. He couldn’t feel, he couldn’t see. His eye was itchy and stiff.

 

There were boots running past him. He could only hear them at first but when his vision focused he could see them. People were running past him. Their voices wobbled in and out and he struggled to figure out what was happening. He was numb and tingling and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. He could smell gunpowder but there was something else clogging up his nose. It was acrid and it close.

 

Dan tilted his head just a little and saw Blaine’s gun. He could reach out and touch it. He needed to get up and fight, he needed to defend himself. He slowly flexed his fingers and they all seemed to work just fine. His arm dragged through the dirt but it got too heavy and he had to stop. Why couldn’t he move? Why was he so fucking sluggish?

 

He had to cock his head farther than usual to the right. Something was blocking his vision. _Blaine?_

 

That boot was attached to a leg that abruptly ended above the knee. Smoke curled above the stump, the uniform and flesh charred. A mess of chunky, blood stained dirt told him where the rest of the soldier went to. He gaped as the shock of it hit him. They’d been attacked with some kind of bomb, there was no other way. Blaine, he was...he’d just been a kid, like him, couldn’t have been more than twenty five. And he was in _pieces._

 

His right eye hurt so much.

 

Dan turned his head away with a groan and it jostled his body. Agony stabbed into his shoulder and down his throat. His scalp felt like spins and needles and his bones felt like they were searing him. He couldn’t look at the leg for another second, he couldn’t spare a moment for Blaine when he had to protect himself. He had to man up and get out of here, find some cover, figure out what was happening.

 

He couldn't really tell what he was seeing at first. It was hard to tell. There was blood in the dirt and he could suddenly smell it, copper filling his nose and lungs. He could smell the stench of burnt flesh so much more clearly now. He couldn’t register what it was. Or more accurately, what it _wasn’t_ . There was so much negative space and it was _wrong_. He tried to reach out and he got to see the fleshy stump wiggle.

 

His arm was gone.

 

_Where’d it go? Where is it? I have to find it._

 

A stream of panicked thoughts started racing through his head and he whimpered pathetically. He had to look away, it couldn’t be real. This was some sort of nightmare. That wasn’t his blood, it couldn’t be. There was _so_ much. He just had to close his eyes and it would all go away. He’d wake up and nothing would be wrong and he could sell his gun like nothing ever happened. No bombs, no blood-

 

_Why can’t I close my eyes?_

 

Dan felt a sharp pain every time he tried to blink and it only got worse as he acknowledged it. It was a deep hurt that he could feel all the way through his teeth and into his jaw. Something was wrong. He could see something at his right, some kind of dirty edge.

 

Dan tried to scream but his mouth filled with blood. It stuck to the roof of his mouth and dripped hot over his lips, making him gag. ‘ _No, please, fuck.’_

 

His vision tunneled and started to fade. The true pain hit his system and he crumpled.

 

o0o

 

The attack was no surprise. Geoff had the Eye of the station fixated on their position and it was child’s play to beam down a pile of hellfire right onto the enemy. Little fuckers thought they could spread out to launch the bombs and be _safe._

 

“Idiots! They’re all fucking idiots!” Geoff barked as he stormed into the Medical Tent, manic grin spread over his face along with a splash of blood. Some of the bandits had dared get close enough to enter his camp like the damn fools they were. He got to mow a few down before the Loaders polished them off. The grin fell when he saw the long row of wounded. He had brought two doctors with him on the off chance someone got hurt, one of them his own personal doc, but thankfully someone had brought a slew of MedBots. “Burns!”

 

His doctor waved without looking up, a tablet in his other hand. Geoff stomped over and made sure to look at every face, alive or dead. Gus was a scum sucking bandit with a fat head and he was going to die one day, one day soon. No one murdered his grunts but him. Kovic was standing beside Burns and speaking softly about the casualties, both of them looking up as the CEO came up beside them.

 

“How bad is it, kiddos?” Geoff asked, hands on his hips as he exuded authority to no one in particular.

 

“Thirty killed, a dozen confirmed wounded. More of both still coming in,” Burnie replied curtly, rolling through the files on his tablet. “This is a shit show. Those fucks used shrapnel bombs. Corrosive I could understand with your signature Loader army but _shrapnel_? Boss, they were aiming to kill your men. This was intentional.”

 

“They probably got word you were here and thought an attack would flush you out,” Kovic huffed. “Praying for a stray scrap to catch you in the throat.”

 

“Fuckers,” he hissed.

 

“You’re lucky I brought my babies with me,” Burnie scolded, stylus tapping in the air at one of the nearby MedBots. They were sleek and silver with blue lenses instead of red like the Loaders. “You are a spiteful asshole. You didn’t bring your fucking medics because they’re not in your colors.”

 

“Everything should be red and gold and _you’re_ the asshole who so- _spitefully_ changed the design last minute,” Geoff shot back, then relented a little. “Good job for not being a dipshit and forgetting them. You’re going to save a lot of people today. And you know what that means?”   
  
“You’ll take all the credit and bootlicking?” Burnie jawled.

 

“Exactly. Gold star for you, pumpkin.”

 

“Got another one, Dr. Burns!” chimed in Burnie’s pretty little assistant Ashley as she pushed up another hover gurnie. She was a breath of fresh air in all the smoke and death, a blonde little Omega with a smile that could disarm even the toughest Alpha. The three Alphas were so entranced by her pretty eyes that they almost missed the patient she carted in front of him. She locked the gurney and trotted off to get more into the tent.

 

“Ah shit,” Burnie cursed. “This one’s a fucking _child_!”

 

Geoff frowned down at the hover gurney. The brat was just that - a young brat. He wasn’t dressed like a bandit but he surely wasn’t one of theirs. The kid was a bloody mess. He must have been a dirty rat that had gotten caught up in the chaos somehow. He looked alive, barely, but torn up. His clothes were singed and his cheek was cut up but those were the worst of his problems. The kid’s arm had been blown off, leaving a bit of stump behind but not much else.

 

“Poor kid,” Kovic muttered, gaze lingering on the thick shard of metal sticking out of the boy’s eye. Right eye and right arm, one mangled and the other taken clear off. The shard was twitching as the boy stared off into the distance. There was already a pain patch on his good arm but it was probably just scratching the surface. “He’s in shock.”

 

“No fucking shit,” Geoff grumbled. “So who is he? He’s not one of ours and he doesn’t look like the regular bandit type.”

 

“I think…” Kovic reached out and ran his gloved fingers over the hard case still latched to the boy’s back. “ _Oh_. I think his name is Dan. Gibson was bringing him into the camp because he had a sniper rifle to sell.”

 

“Do you think he was some kind of signal?” Burnie offered, scanning the kid with his tablet to assess the damage. “Like he gave the okay for the bombs?”

 

“Gibson said he looked harmless and the reading he sent me said the kid had no bad background. Just a name on a screen.” Kovic trailed off before his eyes fell closed. “Then the connection cut off. For fuck sakes, Gibson. If Dan looks like this, then…” He cleared his throat, shoveling the loss away to be grieved at a better time. “I should get back out there, sir. Help out and keep the men together.”

 

Geoff nodded and the general left without another word. “Don’t think the kid is used to losing his toy soldiers.”

 

“Try to show some respect while those _toys_ are laying there bleeding to death for you,” Burnie hissed through his teeth, drawing the CEO’s attention. “This kid needs a lot of work and fast if he’s going to live. He’s not one of yours so what do you want me to do?”

 

Geoff opened his mouth to give the death order when the kid _wheezed_. He wasn’t sure if Dan could hear or see them but he was trying to reach out, blood bubbling over his lips. The eye that was still intact was a honey brown and filled with tears. Geoff leaned on the gurney and peered down into his face. “You there, pumpkin?”

 

A sound clicked out from between those bloody lips and Geoff’s heart skipped. That was a chitter. This boy was an Omega. Alphas and Betas couldn’t mimic that sound. “They blew up a fucking Omega kid.”

 

Dan tried to talk but no sound came out. It was no stretch to imagine he was asking for help.

 

“Sir?” one of the soldiers stood a polite distance away, blood smeared over his chest and down his arms. “We need more gurneys and the space. If he’s not one of ours, may we have that?”

 

That would be the obvious choice. Handsome Geoff barely took care of his own let alone anyone from Earth. Geoff stared down at the shattered Omega and he felt something tug deep in his chest. This was some no-name kid, some brat that grew up in the dirt and could have no use to him. There was something in his pathetic little face, though. A gleam in his one good eye, a softness to his jaw, the submissive noises he made, his fit little body - Geoff didn’t want to look away.

 

He hated feeling something he couldn’t describe and he snarled at the soldier. “You want it? Have it.”

 

There was a flash of disappointment on Burnie’s face but he covered it up quickly, nodding. “Okay, soldier, take it.”

 

The soldier and Burnie dropped their jaws as Geoff picked the Omega up off the gurney. The CEO shot the young man a fierce glare. “ _Well?!_ ”

 

The gurney was quickly taken and the soldier got out of there as fast as possible. Geoff made a mental note of the kid’s face for later before he turned to his doctor. “Take the Omega back to your tent. Wrangle one of your robo-kids to help and fetch all the shit you need. _You_ fix this shit, no one else in or out. Got it?”

 

Burnie nodded and made a surprised noise as Dan was literally shoved into his arms. He held the Omega tight, mindful of his bloody stump and the glass still lodged in the soft of his eye. He looked down at the poor boy and he grieved for him, for the pain he was in and what he had lost. Dan was looking up at him but what he could actually see was anyone’s guess. Usually he didn’t give a shit about Earthlings and his Omega types were leggy and blonde, but this one had his heart strings aching. “Hey there little guy.”

 

Burnie didn’t miss the way Geoff’s hand lingered in the Omega’s blood matted hair. “Now hurry the fuck up before the shock wears off and he starts screaming. The last thing I need is a bunch of wounded Alphas hearing an Omega in distress.”

 

“And after?” Burnie asked, frowning.

 

“You let me worry about _after_ , cupcake.”

 

o0o

 

“There you are, little guy. Tell me if you’re in any pain.”

 

Dan tried to open his eyes and he was hit by a stark contrast of bright light and complete darkness. He hissed and clenched them shut, realizing very quickly something was wrong. There was something tight over his right eye and when he tried to blink there as just a tug of skin, a muscle twitch, and it felt… _hollow_. There was no pain and he was thankful but everything was off.

 

The eye that wasn’t covered took a while to focus on where he was. There was a ceiling with tin tubing above him in shades of gold and red. He could smell menthol, antiseptic, and something like copper. The air was cool on his exposed skin and that’s when he realized he’d been stripped, nothing but a sheet covering him. He looked around and frowned. He was in a hospital bed, or at least what he thought one looked like. The hospitals on Earth weren’t exactly state of the art, he’d never seen silver so polished before.

 

He was in a MedTent, his eye was covered, and his arm…

 

Dan whined and stared down at the bandaged stump. It was wrapped up so nice and neat, bandages ivory white without even a speck of blood to expose the carnage that was inside. He waited for the scream of horror to build up in his throat but all he felt was a muted displacement, a sense of dissociation. It was hard to grasp what he was seeing. It felt like there was a mental block. All he could do was stare down at it, shifting his muscles to watch it move with a sick fascination.

 

“I know, it’s fucked up. I gave you something for the pain and the shock. You probably feel off kilter. That’s from the sedative.”

 

Dan blinked up at the doctor. His nose told him Alpha but the man had warm eyes and copper curls, handsome and broad shouldered with a trimmed beard surrounding a smiling mouth. His tone was comforting and against his better judgement, Dan relaxed. Maybe it was the white coat or the gentle air of authority that calmed his survival instincts, maybe it was the drugs, or maybe even it was the knowledge that he was severely injured and helpless - in any case, he was too tired to freak out. Bloodgulch had some damn good drugs.

 

“My arm’s gone,” he replied dully.

 

“That’s true,” the doctor replied, cringing. “But other than that, you’re alive and well. No complications.” The Alpha looked down at his tablet, flicking through the files. “Good news? No blood diseases, STDs, signs of cancer, or any deadly parasites. All in all - losing an arm isn’t so bad for an Earth kid. Could be loads worse.”

 

Dan slowly raised his hand and touched the bandage on his face. “A-And my eye? Is it okay?”

 

The Alpha’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, kid. It was pretty damaged. I tried to save it but there really wasn’t much left to salvage.”

 

Dan closed his good eye. “ _Fuck_.”

 

“I”m Dr. Burns, you can call me Burnie. We’ll be here a while. We’re not evacuating for a while and I’m not sure what Geoff wants to do with you, but until then you’re stuck here with me.”

 

He gaped. “Is that where I’m at?”

 

“Yeah, you’re in the camp. We found you with the other survivors.”

 

Dan’s brow pinched up. “And they’re…?”

 

“They’re in the actual medical tent.” Burnie gestured above him. “This is my tent. I only brought one bed with me and it’s collapsable.”

 

Dan took another look around. He was in a hospital bed and there was an IV hooked up to his arm, but there was a cot in the corner along with a desk that had an ECHO on it along with some medical supplies. It was sparse, an emergency tent at best. His heart started to pound and Burnie’s tablet beeped in response, making the doctor frown. “Why am I here?”

 

The tent slit flipped open and someone strided through. The powerful musk of dominant Alpha quickly filled the room and Dan’s heart flutter was much more pleasant this time. He stared in disbelief as the Alpha strut up to them, grin plastered on his face and ice blue eyes gleaming. _Handsome Geoff_ \- live and in person and right in front of him! He struck a tall, imposing figure just like his posters. Dan had a dozen plastered all over his room along with any other Bloodgulch merch he’d managed to scrounge together.

 

His hero was standing right in front of him and he was missing twenty five percent of himself.

 

Dan was starstruck but he still managed to draw in on himself, a weak noise teasing the back of his throat.

 

“Don’t be scared, kiddo. If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” Geoff rattled off he sat on the side of the bed, body heat brushing against the Omega’s form. Dan had to turn his head a little further to see him with his right eye bandaged. He was embarrassed that the CEO of the most infamous arms company in the solar system was inches from his brand new fucking _stump._ Still, he found himself blushing and simpering in the man’s presence.

 

“Wow, look at that smile,” Geoff beamed, making the Omega redden further. “You’re damn beautiful, kitten.”

 

Dan’s giggle was hysterical and he quickly covered up his hand, ears burning hot. _Oh fuck did he call me hot? Fuck, did I just giggle? He has to think I’m a complete moron. It’s the bloody painkillers._

 

“Adorable,” Geoff snorted. “So, sugar, it’s going to be kinda’ rough to survive on this dirt ball with one arm and only one pretty little eye, huh?”

 

Burnie rolled his eyes.

 

Dan grunted like he’d been hit, wincing and drawing in again. Shit, he was right. Earth wasn’t an easy place to live. He’d seen people with worse handicaps than this wrig themselves up formidable lairs and do just fine, but he wasn’t brilliant enough for stuff like that.

 

“Don’t look so sad, kitten,” Geoff tisked, reaching over and brushing his knuckles over the Omega’s cheek.  “You’re much too pretty for it.”

 

Dan chittered shyly. “Sir…”

 

“Call me Geoff, pumpkin.”

 

“Handsome Geoff, sir,” Dan fumbled.

 

Geoff barked out a belly laugh, tossing his head back. “Close enough, kiddo!” He patted Dan’s leg. “Okay, listen up. I took a look at that gun you brought.”

 

“Bloody hell,” Dan muttered, wincing again as he remembered Blaine’s face and the bloody dirt pulp he became. “That thing survived?”

 

“It did, and I gotta’ say, I like it,” Geoff admitted. “There’s potential there. You show better aptitude than half the idiots I already have in my Engineering department. You go to some kind of Earth school that taught you how to build fine pieces like that?

 

“My father was an engineer,” Dan replied sheepishly. “I, uh, taught myself about guns since I was a lad. My mum used to work in a big factory before Bloodgulch took over. She’s brilliant.”

 

“Small, strong genes,” Geoff grunted, looking impressed. “They still around?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Dan confessed. “They didn’t want me to leave Hallow’s End but I wasn’t going to live and die there. I wanted to see more of the world. I wanted…”

 

Geoff waited all of two seconds before he needled. “Wanted what, cupcake?”

 

Dan let out the breath he was holding. He literally had nothing else to lose. He was a nervous wreck with Handsome Geoff in front of him, he had no arm, no eye, and he was at the mercy of Bloodgulch. If he was going to die today then he was going to tell his hero the truth no matter how stupid he sounded. “I looked up at your space station and knew there was more than this hellpit. That’s where I wanted to end up.”

 

“In space?” Geoff joked.

 

“There’s nothing down here.” He glanced down at his bandaged stub, his stomach rolling. “Just monsters and blood.”

 

Geoff’s lips pursed into a white slash across his face. “There’s plenty of blood on my space station, cupcake.”

 

Dan cracked a weak smile. “But you mop it up. No one mops up down here.”

 

Geoff tilted his head, a small rumble forming in his chest. He liked the spark in the kid and those puppy eyes were killing him. “You’re missing about, what? Twenty percent of yourself? And somehow you’re still _one hundred_ percent more interesting than most people I’ve encountered.”

 

Dan lit up like a star, wide smile reaching his eye. “Really?”

 

_What a cute kid._

 

“Yeah, kitten. I’m as surprised as you are. Well, maybe not.” Geoff looked the Omega over and felt bad at how pale he was. “Don’t keel over on me, we worked pretty fucking hard to keep you alive.”

 

“Thank you, sir,” Dan beamed, Burnie watching nearby as the Omega’s heart rate spiked again. “I’m grateful you saved me. I don’t know what could have happened to me.”

 

“You wouldn’t have even gotten a body bag, cupcake. We would have rolled you over in the dirt and left it at that. Written you off as a bandit.”

 

Dan swallowed thickly, the little zing of horror extinguished by Geoff’s easy smile. _Mum used to call Alphas like him silver tongued devils._

 

“I’ve always wanted to meet you,” Dan confessed with another giddy little chitter. “Shame it has to be like this. My friends will never believe this.” His smile fell. “Bollocks.”  
  
Geoff raised a brow at the strange word. “What?”

 

“After I leave here, I’ll...become a burden on them.” Dan’s eyes slid down to his stump and he tasted bile. “I’m not good with tech, I don’t know what use I’ll be to them.”

 

“True,” Geoff conceded, scratching through his short beard. “You’ll probably drag your little rag-tag pack down, whoever they are. You’ll slow ‘em down, barely able to shoot a gun how you are now.”

 

“I’m broken,” Dan muttered with sick realization, tempted to touch his bandage again.

 

“Hey, kitten, look at me.” The Alpha’s fingers curled along his jaw and tucked his thumb under his chin, tilting his head up. “Wipe the pout off that pretty mouth. We’ll fix you up.”

 

Dan preened under the compliment. It struck harder with his busted ego and the deep laced vulnerability that came from missing pieces. It hadn’t quite sunk in yet how crippled he actually was but he was skirting the full realization. Going back into shock in front of Handsome Geoff was not how he wanted this to go. The Alpha was still touching him and he felt like jelly from the stomach down, knees threatening to give. “What do you mean?”

 

Geoff’s fingers drew back and he almost chased after them.

 

“Get out, Burns.”

 

The doctor fidgeted. “Sir…”

 

“I said _get out_. I won’t repeat myself.”

 

Burnie reluctantly left to give them some privacy.

 

Geoff put his palms flat on the bed and leaned his weight on them. “What do you say we make a deal, you and I?”

 

Dan tried to sit up but the CEO hushed him and gestured to lay. The Omega obeyed but there was still a knot of worry and excitement in his chest. “Like what?”

 

“Cut and lean of it - I want to give you a job up on my station building the hardware. Engineering, kitten, right up your alley.”

 

Dan gaped, words stuck on his drying tongue. His mind blanked out completely and he almost convinced himself this really _was_ a dream. It was everything he’d wanted, every desire he’d hidden from his Earth friends for fear of humiliation. It had seemed beyond impossible this morning when he was getting the gun ready and now Handsome Geoff was sitting right in front of him saying _insanely_ improbable things. “Wh-What? Really?”

 

Geoff snorted. “Don’t pee yourself, kiddo. I’ve got some conditions.”

 

Dan swallowed a few times to get a stable word out. “Yeah?”

 

“With this job…” Geoff trailed off, eyes flickering along the Omega’s bandages. “Comes a new cyber arm and an ECHO eye. Brand new stuff, hot off the line. They’ll have all the bells and whistles. If I’m going to take you up there, people are going to have some questions. And they can go _fuck_ themselves but you sure are going to look God damn impressive. I’m talking the full package and all of it in my colors, obviously.”

 

He gestured to his red button up that clung tight across his chest but Dan had trouble seeing it as tears welled up hot in his good eye. He wiped them away but they came back just as fast, spilling down his scratched cheek. He saw violence and inhumanity every day but the casual generosity hit him where it hurt. _Give_ him another arm? A new eye? Cyberware didn’t come cheap, especially the high-end kind like Bloodgulch produced. That kind of tech went for a fortune on Earth and he’d only seen it once on someone, and that was just a foot.

 

Dan hated himself for crying in front of his hero and was grateful the man wasn’t mocking him. Handsome Geoff was known to be cruel but the man only looked guardedly concerned, like he didn’t want to show it. A ruthless, bloodthirsty dictator who slaughtered “disobedient” bandits for fun was looking at him like he wanted to help and Dan wasn’t sure he should feel so _touched_.

 

_This must be my deathbed. This can’t be happening. He’s going to have me killed the second I leave this tent or use me as an experiment._

 

“I don’t have any money,” Dan blurted out without thinking, quickly wiping at his cheek to preserve some dignity.

 

“I’m not asking for your money,” Geoff scoffed. “Who said anything about that?”

 

The Omega frowned. “Then what do you want?”

 

“Clean the shit out of your ears, brat, I want to take care of you!” Geoff barked, making the Omega flinch. “You obviously got the short end of the stick on this piece of shit planet and you’re too smart for these fuckers anyways.”

 

Dan tried not to squirm as nervous flutters went all through him. He was confused and a little terrified. “That’s it? Somehow I don’t believe that. What do you want from _me_?”

 

Geoff rolled his eyes. “ _And_ I like to pack my station with the best and brightest. A lot of them turn out to be wastes of space that get put where they belong, but some of them can hold their own. Why not take the chance to get another competent engineer? More guns, more money.”

 

“Short on those?” Dan bantered.

 

“Unfortunately.” He made a point to look the Omega over. “And not one of those grease monkies are half as cute as you, kitten.”

 

Dan still looked unconvinced. Geoff visibly tried to cool off his hot flare of temper at that. _I know I’m a fucking psycho-dictator murderer, but what do I have to do to get a little trust? Damn._ “I already told you the truth. Take care of you or whatever. Stop making this difficult.”

 

Dan bit his lip. He wasn’t a genius and he didn’t any money. There was only one other type of currency he could think of and it made his stomach sour. He could admit he’d had many late night fantasies about something like this - Handsome Geoff needing an Omega intern, a personal assistant to take out his ‘frustrations’ with. He’d touch himself at night to his full length Handsome Geoff poster and moan the Alpha’s name, wishing it was rough fingers and a thick cock instead of his own hand. It was pathetic but it warmed him through the night as he let himself play pretend he was more vastly more important than he really was.

 

But exchanging his ass to be whole again, to be _bought_ like Bloodgulch property...

 

“I’m not a whore,” Dan grit out through clenched teeth, his hand balled into a fist. “No matter the cost. I’ve never even been with-”

 

He cut himself off with a fresh blush. _He doesn’t need to know how completely pathetic you are._

 

“Hot damn, you are super cute,” Geoff snickered, lightly pinching his cheek. “I’m not trying to buy your ass, kitten, no matter how nice it is. I’m not buying you - _period_ . Which is unusual for me because everyone’s either a worker bee or an imbecile or an enemy, or even all three.” He sharply patted his cheek. “But not this time, pumpkin! I’m not buying you at all. I’m buying _for_ you. It’s different! Let me get you off this planet.”

 

Dan knew he looked like an idiot gaping and staring at the powerful CEO but he wasn’t sure what else to do. He rubbed over his chest and hoped his pounding heart wasn’t the sign of a second round of shock. His cheek was tingling from the Alpha’s touch. ‘ _Maybe I’m going to stroke out?’_

 

“This...is a bit much,” Geoff observed with a drawl, eyes raking over the Omega. “Don’t pass out on me, kiddo.”

 

Dan resisted the urge to slap his own face. _Pull it together, this is Handsome Fucking Geoff._ “Why me?”

 

“Because you’ve got a shred of talent and I’d hate to see it die here.” Geoff ran his fingers through his hair and Dan wanted to coo at how cutely the dark hair ruffled. _Fuck, I’ve got it bad_ . “Plus, you got hurt this bad trying to impress me. And you _did_ impress me. So what’s wrong with a reward?”

 

This was a little more than a reward. This was a once in a lifetime offer. This was a dream! It was more than he could have ever thought was possible and his breath was coming in quiet wheezes. When he spoke, it was raspy. “I shouldn’t trust you.”

 

Geoff raised a brow. “Who should you trust?”

 

“My friends…” he whined, thinking of their disappointed faces when he told them about this. They loathed Handsome Geoff and everything he stood for, every action he made an atrocity. They would be so pissed when they realized he’d gotten blown up trying to show off for the Alpha.

 

“Can your _friends_ give you new, state of the art limbs and a comfortable life up on a very safe and monster-free space station where the only threat is yours truly?”

 

Dan’s small fangs scraped over his lip. “Sir, you...you murder people.”

 

Geoff snorted out a laugh. “No shit. People piss me off. If I wanted _you_ dead, like I said, you’d be fucking _dead_.”

 

Dan’s fingers played nervously with the sheet. A hundred thoughts were swirling around in his head. He could just be a pet project of some sort. Put experimental tech on him, parade him around and get free feedback, and when he lived out his usefulness...maybe death, maybe worse. He wouldn’t put it past the malicious Handsome Geoff to cut off or cut _out_ pieces of him just to see what he could replace with cyberware.

 

But Dan was so delirious from the flattery and the impossibility of it all that he found himself nodding. He wanted this all to be true even if it was just for a little while. If he was going to get turned into a cyborg and lose all his humanity, then he was going to do it up on that space station. The butterflies in his stomach fattened up and spread into happy flutters all through his body. His blood felt like it was sizzling in a strangely good way.

 

_What do I have to lose?_

 

“O-okay. Promise you won’t, uh, strangle me?”

 

Geoff’s dark chuckle skirted over his skin. “Just don’t disappoint me, kitten.”

 

Dan searched the Alpha’s face but he didn’t see even a flicker of violence in his eyes. It sounded like a joke so he went with it. It wouldn’t do him any good to question Handsome Geoff.

  
“Good? Good.” Geoff patted his leg again with a big grin. “Why don’t we beam you up there and I get my best cybernetic doctor on sketching you up some new pieces and getting them built? That sound good, kiddo?”

 

Dan didn’t trust himself to speak so he just nodded. It was the beginning of the end anyways, might as well get it started as quickly as possible.

 

o0o

 

It was easy for Geoff to convince the Omega to get beamed up to Bloodgulch once he promised him company. He put a couple Loaders and Burnie by Dan’s side and sent the kid off with a wave. Trusting little one. He was damn lucky that ol’ Handsome Geoff had found him first and was happy to take him under his wing. Because it was was _super_ easy to find the kid’s ATV and run a hack code through the system to reverse the GPS and lead him right back to the kid’s house.

 

Geoff didn’t go back. Not yet.

 

Geoff wasn’t sure why he didn’t just send a raid team to make sure the kid wasn’t some kind of highly manipulative bandit agent or rival arm’s dealer scout but it just seemed like this all needed a _personal_ touch. That, and he didn’t want anyone else going through Dan’s personal things. The kid looked at him like he’d hung the stars and crafted the very swirls of the galaxy. Dan’s admiration was paired with a low burn of fear instead of the full blown mop-sweat knee-clacking terror most people showed him. It was intoxicating and refreshing to have such a pretty Omega looking at him like that. The kid had a great body, muscles thick for an Omega and with a strong jaw that was seen more on Alphas. Dan was a real prize.

 

He took four Loaders and the fastest hoverbike the camp had through the dust and hills. He followed the GPS to the number and found Dan’s little hideout. The door was hidden in a rock crevice and the security system was easy to override. He kept two Loaders at the door and ordered the other two to stay in the front room.

 

It was a windowless place with security cameras rather discretely hidden all around, more a bunker than a house. The first level was just a sparse kitchen and living room, just the essentials and a busted couch with some playing cards and a whole scattering of gun parts. There were several finished pieces but mostly it seemed to be two dozen half-finished products - all with potential. There were piles of papers with design sketches, maps, lists…

 

“Kid’s a real inventor type,” Geoff chuckled to himself, looking toward the Loader crouched in the kitchen. “You know, I always hated the genius types. They all think they’re better than me just because I’m a bit more hands-on, like I’m just brawler who got to the top with my fists. And, to be fair, that’s half of it. No one remembers how I started, or how much brain it takes to build this kind of company. This brat right here? He’s a different type of genius. I’ve always had good luck with engineers, they’re not idiots and they show some damn respect. None of them have been this cute though.”

 

The Loader’s red eye blinked at him.

 

“Just stay up here and guard the place, you hunk of junk.”

 

There was a second floor and Geoff was careful going down the rickety steps. It was much cooler down below but messier. It was Dan’s bedroom. The floor was meticulously clean but the tables were packed with tools and more projects that didn’t make the cut upstairs. There was a _chalkboard_ of all things. The archaic double-sided board was cluttered with dusty designs that brought a smirk to his face.

 

“This fucking brat,” Geoff awed, stepping over and turning the board over to see more notes and sleek gun mechanics. He walked along the wall and examined the more complicated gun designs that were pinned there and the layers of posters slapped over one another with lacquer. A lot of it was Bloodgulch though some were from Earth establishments.  

 

And then he got to the bed. It was pathetic. It was a twin bed barely long enough to fit the leggy Omega and the triple mattress pads were worn thin. His blankets were ratty and sewn together to make strange patchy patterns, and the pillow didn’t look much better. Geoff frowned down at it. “Poor brat. This is shit.”

 

Then he saw it. He hadn’t seen one of _those_ posters in a long time, not since the promotion a few years back. It was one of his “Hero of Earth” PR lines, reminding the people who saved them by slaying The Destroyer and who looked after them. The poster was made to scale, showing his own image off from head to toe. He was dressed to the nine’s and strapped with a couple pistols just to add to the cool/deadly factor. It was a damn good display of himself and the kid had the poster meticulously placed, lacquered firmly so that the bottom of the poster cut right above the end of the bed. The top of it almost touched the ceiling.

 

His own image was grinning right down into Dan’s bed. _That_ made his dick twitch.

 

Geoff double checked that the Loaders hadn’t followed him and that there were no security cameras mounted before he leaned down and grabbed the kid’s pillow. He put it to his nose and took a leisurely inhale. _Fuck._ The kid smelled so fucking good. Like melted sugar and cinnamon. He wanted to pour it in his coffee every morning and chug. He’d wondered what the kid really smelled like since he’d gotten close enough to realize he couldn’t scent him. Pheromone blockers and heat suppressants had been in his blood work but Dan had doubled up his protection with Beta spray. He couldn’t wait to smell him all warm and natural.

 

_Take note - add sugar syrup and cinnamon to cabinet._

 

He spotted something black against the white pillow and his jaw nearly unhinged from how fast it dropped. It was a pair of slim cut underwear - the fabric thick and sturdy but cut into straps at the hips and shaped in the back to show off an Omega’s ass. Geoff felt his throat get hot as he thought about Dan’s fat cheeks peeking out of the dark material. He had a thing for hips and he would put money down to bet that Dan had some nice fucking hips for those straps to hug.

 

Geoff liked an Omega who could be rough and smart and still treat themselves to a little something sexy. Earth Omegas were either simpering idiots or trying to be Alpha. He didn’t exactly blame this, this dirt ball was a rough place to grow up, but he liked his bed warmers to be a little more well rounded than that.

 

Dan was looking damn near perfect.

 

Geoff let himself indulge and plucked up the undies, giving them a whiff. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he moaned. Pure honey. _I am so fucked._

 

o0o0o0o

 

When Handsome Geoff sent him off to Bloodgulch with the promise that Dr. Burns would stay by his side and he’d meet up with someone named Dr. Griffon, he expected to be treated like a strange new animal. Bloodgulch was full of clean, respectable people who were _whole_ and he was a gross freak from Earth with dirt in every crease of his skin. He expected to be wheeled in on the gurney into a dim lit surgery room with a butcher as a surgeon.

 

He expected the worse, but this was exceptionally nice.

 

Burnie got him some clothes and made sure he could properly walk before leading them out of the teleporter room and into the halls of Bloodgulch. Everything was shiny chrome and gold plated with heavy accents of blood red running through it like veins. They stuck to the back wall as they headed to the elevator but Dan still got to see the edge of the general public as they passed by one of the smaller common areas. No one really looked his way and it gave him a sense of normalcy - he was invisible on Earth too.

 

Burnie walked with him and they made small talk about where he grew up and what gun was his favorite, what he did for money on Earth. The Alpha was pleasant and Dan didn’t get any strange vibes off him like he was being manipulative. They had a trail of the doctor’s medical bots trailing behind them and they were kind of cute compared to the usual Loaders. They were small and smooth, one even kept brushing against his leg like a cat.

 

The air was so cool. It was like a spring breeze everywhere. Especially the elevator. It was an easy ride down and he felt the knot in his gut unwinding. Handsome Geoff was still back on Earth for all he knew and he would’ve felt safer knowing the CEO was with them on the station, but Burnie was doing a great job as a soothing presence. The Alpha didn’t touch him but he stayed close, keeping a watchful eye out for any potential danger.

 

Dan was dizzy in a way he hoped was good. Bloodgulch was everything he’d hoped for so far.

 

He was blown away when they arrived at the lab. It was like a dream. The place was packed with cyberware and schematics, each wall with its own workbench. It was leaps and bounds better than anything he’d seen on Earth and it made his own makeshift home shop look like a scrap yard. The walls were mounted with all sorts of cyber limbs and organs, each more impressive than the last. His hand itched to touch but it all looked painfully expensive.

 

And there was a focus point of the room - a female Alpha with eyes as piercing and blue as Geoff’s. They did funny things to his stomach and he backed up, hitting Burnie’s chest.

 

“It’s okay, little guy,” Burnie promised with a sweet coo, edging him forward. “This is Dr. Griffon.”

 

Griffon was _stunning_. Razor cut silver hair and piercings, tattoos flowing like water all over her skin. Her hands were heavily calloused and her nails were painted a sparkling blue that set off small lens flares when she moved her hands. He couldn’t fathom what kind of gem crust it was but he immediately wanted some for his own chewed, cracked nails. Her lips were ruby red and pulled into a wolfish smile that made him blush. Despite his mindless chittering and wide eyes, Burnie managed to lead Dan over to the table to sit across from the woman.

 

She smelled like fireworks and ripe blackberries. His heart stuttered. “You are one hell of an Alpha, ma’am.”

 

“Aren’t you a sweet little boy?” Griffon crooned before she flipped open the sketch pad in front of her. “I see you got a bit busted up. Geoff told me he’s giving you the best of the best and I am excited to get creative. Are you?”

 

“Um, y-yeah. It’s just a bit much. I’m just now on my feet.”

 

Griffon’s painted lips pulled down in sympathy. “Geoff told me it just happened. I’m sorry about this, kid. Don’t, uh, take me for indifferent, okay? I’ve just seen a lot of violence and even a sweet Omega like you missing some pieces isn’t enough to really rattle me. You understand, don’t you? You grew up on Earth.”

 

Dan grinned at her and wiggled his bandaged stump beneath the knotted t-shirt sleeve. “I’d like to see one of these space heads deal with losing an arm as well as I am.”

 

“That’s actually adorable,” Griffon hummed, plucking out a pen from her messy bun. “Geoff said you were a cute kid but I wasn’t expecting _this_ cute. Now let's get you set up.”

 

Burnie sat at a bench a polite distance away and messed around on his tablet, looking up now and then to watch the two. He’d been ordered to keep an eye on Dan during his recovery and as Handsome Geoff’s personal physician he was contractually bound to obey - and he had nothing better to do. Dan was sweet enough that he didn’t mind. Griffon reminded him so much of Geoff and if the doctor got along this well with Dan then he knew his boss would too. The two were talking, advanced cybernetics meeting prodigal engineering and veering into a whole conversation that he couldn’t really keep up with. He was strictly biological.

 

Dan listened attentively as Griffon rattled off the features of the ECHO eye he was going to receive. It was an amazing piece of technology and the Alpha broke it all down in a way he could understand without babying him. But underneath the joy was an underlying current of fear.

 

“Is he going to kill me?”

 

Griffon cut off mid word and blinked at him, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Geoff wouldn’t go through the trouble of doing this if he was just going to airlock you.”

 

Dan blanched. “ _Airlock?!_ ”

 

“Yeah. Listen, kid.” She waved dismissively and sounded strikingly like Handsome Geoff. “Can your tiny little Earth mind even process how expensive Burnie and I are?”

 

“I-”  


“ _Insanely!_ ” Griffon barked, smacking her palm on the table with a grin. “This isn’t a trap, Dan. I’ve seen Geoff’s traps before so trust me. Even have the scars from getting caught up in a few. He’s taking you pretty damn seriously. You hear me?”

 

Dan nodded wordlessly.

 

“ _Now_ \- the color of the eye. Do you want them to match?”

 

“Well, actually…”

 

o0o0o0o

 

Geoff didn’t see Dan for two months. He’d left Griffon and Burnie in charge of the little Earthling and the progress reports all looked good. He’d ordered the royal treatment for Dan and the package included the best dermal regenerators money could buy (all patented by Bloodgulch, of course). He’d promised them both a swift knife to the throat if they fucked it up but he’d refused any pictures. He wanted to be surprised.

 

He wanted to help Dan out and make the Omega whole again. But Geoff could admit that he was treating the Omega like a present for himself. He liked Dan, he thought he was a real looker and a bit of a brain, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make this whole process a gift for them both. Dan got free tech and Geoff got to see the Omega in _his_ colors.

 

Finally, after a painful stretch of patience, Griffon had sent him an email declaring Project Dan _finished_. He’d summoned the boy with one of his personal messenger Loaders and he’d be coming to his office within the hour. Geoff was excited to see how it all turned out and to get some personal feedback, see if Dan was actually happy with his new parts.

 

_Not that I care if he is or not. Brat should just be grateful._

 

Geoff messed with the gizmos and trinkets all over his desk and tried to swallow down the nervous bubbles in his stomach. He refused to admit he was anxious about the meeting but the four cups of coffee he’d chugged in an hour said otherwise. Dan was just like anyone else, this wasn’t special. He told himself that hundred times as he rearranged his desk.

 

Geoff rubbed his hand over his chest. _Why is my heart beating so damn fast?_

 

o0o

 

Geoff looked so _right_ sitting there at the single desk on a dais in a massive office. It was as big as Handsome Geoff’s ego and Dan loved it. It was intimidating and flashy, just the way he wa sure the CEO liked it. The wall window, the sleek stone floor that clacked under his boots.

 

Dan stepped into the office in complete and utter awe, turning as he walked to take in everything. He hadn’t seen the Alpha since the day of the accident and since then he’d been given everything. Therapy (physical and mental), a big apartment all to himself, a letter from the Head of Engineering about his new job, regular check ups with Dr. Griffon and Burns, a full wardrobe, and sweet new cyberware. The surgery and follow up operations went smoothly and with surprisingly little pain. He’d expected nightmares and PTSD but the drugs Burnie had been giving him paired with the therapy had eased him through the process more smoothly than he could’ve dreamed.

 

The ghost tingles vanished when he attached his new cyber arm, though in the night he could still feel the itch and burn of dead flesh. His ECHO eye gave him headaches sometimes but that was only because the processing power was insane. Dan knew constantly scanning things made his temples throb but it was so cool. He had an almost bottomless plethora of information to dive into and he wanted to know _everything_. Griffon assured him one day his brain would adapt to the extra work and encouraged him to use all the features to get acquainted with it.

 

And now after two long months, he could finally get face to face with Geoff again and thank the man.

 

Dan hurried up to the dais with a bright smile, feeling light on his feet. After consulting with Burnie he decided to go off the suppressants and let his system refresh itself. The doctor let Dan read through a couple articles and data sheets but he already trusted the Alpha with his life, he didn’t need proof. It had been so long since he’d allowed himself to just be an Omega that he forgot the upsides. Without the ever present cloud of danger, his senses were strong and clear and he just felt...happier. He wasn’t clogged with black market chemicals. Now it was just a daily anti-depressive hyposhot and a couple of Bloodgulch brand vitamin tablets.

 

He had this man to thank.

 

“Handsome Geoff,” Dan greeted, getting hit with a bout of shyness as he stopped in front of the smirking man’s desk. “Wow, I...barely even knocked. I didn’t mean to barge in, I just got a little overexcited. I haven’t seen you since before I got here.”

 

“Well hello to you too, kitten,” Geoff purred at him, fingers steepled in front of him. He jumped up suddenly and the Omega startled, taking a step back as the Alpha circled the desk. Those bright blue eyes were wide in surprise and his smirk softened into a real smile. Dan was a sight for sore eyes. He looked radiant in crimson and gold, and his eye...Geoff could’ve happily drowned in that pool of blood. Dan had chosen Bloodgulch Red as his iris and it was hauntingly beautiful. “Wow, kitten, you look...damn fucking good.”

 

Dan blushed, the color fanning across his cheeks and curling down over his jaw. “Didn’t they send you pictures?”

 

“No way, baby boy, I wanted this to be a surprise.” Geoff held out his hand. “May I?”

 

Handsome fucking Geoff was _asking_ him for something. Dan hesitated for only a second before he carefully laid his metal hand in Geoff’s. It was still so foreign. The tech responded to his firing synapses and flexed muscle like a real arm would. The only thing he had to adjust to was the weight. It was slightly heavier than a real arm but not by much. His ECHO eye adjusted to his own natural eyesight but could hyper focus, zoom in, list facts about the small details he zeroed in on.

 

For cyberware, his arm was sensitive. It didn’t have all the sensation of real flesh but it was riddled with sensors and he could feel the heat of the Alpha’s hand in his. Geoff rumbled and danced the fingers of his other hand up the metal arm, pressing on key points that made the metal panels flutter open. Dan hated having his new, delicate pieces exposed but he didn’t so much as bat an eye as Geoff inspected it. The Alpha’s gaze was heavy but Dan preened under the attention, letting the man turn his arm this way and that to see every angle.

 

“Thank you so much for this, Handsome Geoff,” Dan chittered, little fangs skimming his lip. “Everything is perfect. The tech is flawless and you got me that amazing apartment. I honestly can’t thank you enough. And all those clothes...it’s too much.”

 

“Just call me Geoff, princess.” Geoff’s wink made the tips of his ears burn. “And it was no trouble. I dragged you up here, the least I can do is set you up right. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what I have in store.”

 

“Geoff,” Dan tried, the name rolling across his tongue so nicely. “I can’t imagine you could do anymore for me. You’ve given me _everything_. All the therapy, the tech, just bringing me up here to begin with...I got into trouble and you made me whole again. Griffon and Burnie have been good to me. I know you’re paying them, but still - I appreciate it.”

 

Geoff let out a boisterous laugh but his fingers were still exceptionally tender as they checked the wires within the arm. “They love you, kiddo, trust me. It’s no hardship on their part. They’re practically ready to adopt you. When do you start your job?”  


“Next month, he wants to make sure I’m completely healed before they put me to work.”

 

“Good, good. Seems like Griffon treated you right. Just what the doctor ordered.” Geoff reluctantly let go of the Omega’s arm and they both mourned the loss. The Alpha plastered on a grin and gestured behind him. “Check out the view. Pretty nice, eh kid?”

 

Dan leisurely walked around the desk, smiling at the Alpha as they passed. When he could finally tear his eyes away from Geoff’s broad shoulders, they slid to the amazing view.

 

Dan’s heart was stuttering like a trapped bird in his chest. He’d never felt such breathless delight. The wall window was interrupted with light-striped steel pillars but it only made the curvature of the moon was exquisite The soft blue contrasted gorgeously with the scarlet veins fanning across its rugged surface. Geoff’s office was cold and clean cut but magnificent. Somehow Dan found a warmth in his stomach standing there before the towering glass and the natural beauty of space. He’d always dreamed of seeing Elpis up close and now all he wanted to see was the rest of the galaxy.

 

“I could show it to you, kitten,” Geoff rasped behind him, voice sizzling along his nerves and bringing goosebumps up all over his arms. “I could show you everything.”

 

Dan jumped and blushed all over when fingers grazed his arms. He could see the reflection of Geoff in the window and it grew more clear as the Alpha eased up behind him. He could feel the heat rolling off the man and he shuddered, trapped like wanton prey. “H-How did you know what I was thinking?”  
  
“I can see myself in your eyes, kiddo,” Geoff chuckled, hands sliding deliberately up the Omega’s arms and down the arches of his shoulder blades. Dan’s muscles twitched eagerly under his palms and he resisted the urge to arch like a cat under the petting to keep some face. Geoff’s palms settled in the slight curves of his hips and he let himself lean against the Alpha, sighing shakily as they pressed close. Geoff’s scratchy chin brushed where his shirt collar stopped and his words were suddenly right in his ear. “That look. You get a little taste and you want so much more. You thought you could be content with just one dream but dreams don’t end when they’re fulfilled, kitten. They keep going. Forever.”

 

“I have an amazing new arm and eye, I’m on the Bloodgulch space station, I’m...I’m being touched by Handsome Geoff.” The name was said on an airy sigh that bordered on a moan. He was blushing all the way down to his chest and his fingers were jittery but he was in bliss. “Elpis is in front of me. What more could I ever want? It’s all I’ve ever hoped for.”

 

“What about getting on Elpis? Exploring her?”

 

Dan watched his own eyes widen in the window reflection, the crimson of his ECHO eye still a shock. “There’s settlements on Elpis?”

 

He could see Geoff’s grin over his shoulder. “Some, but it’s real rough and tumble. You could get into a lot of trouble down there.”

 

“You’re awful, Geoff,” Dan laughed, metal fingers coming up to hide his smile. “Appealing to my sense of adventure.”

 

Geoff’s arms looked huge as they curled around his waist, muscles flexing enticingly and shirt straining. Dan huffed as a chin was hooked over his shoulder and the Alpha’s scent filled his senses. Gun powder and oil did nothing to mask his wild scent. Dan wanted to bury his face in the Alpha’s throat and take deep, greedy gulps. He watched tattooed, ringed fingers crawl up his chest and curl just under his jaw.

 

“Geoff?” he whispered as his head was tilted to the side, the Alpha’s grin _hungry_ in the reflection.

 

“Be sweet for me, kitten,” Geoff murmured.

 

Dan felt everything go warm between his thighs and he whined. “I told you, I’m not...I don’t sell myself.” _Even if right now I want nothing else._ “If you lied and you want something for this tech, you can take it back.”

 

“What?” Geoff chuckled warmly, fingers finding the boy’s pulse and pressing in just to make him feel it. “You think I’m going to dress you up in cyberware and fuck you against the window here?”

 

Dan’s breath hitched and the Alpha nuzzled at his hair, inhaling softly with a pleased moan. “S-Sir…”

 

“It would feel pretty damn good, kitten” Geoff promised in a rolling growl. “Brace you up against the glass so you can see everything that belongs to _me_ while I stuff your tight little ass with Alpha cock. How long has it been since you’ve had a thick knot to ride, baby boy? How long since you’ve trusted one of those dirt beasts into your den?”

 

Dan chewed his lip and whined, head falling back against the man’s shoulder.

 

“That’s it, just relax for me, kitten,” Geoff crooned, carefully petting the vulnerable neck under his palm. He dragged his cheek against Dan’s throat and soaked in the warmth of his skin, breathing in all that cinnamon and hot sugar. He wanted so much to _lick_. “You haven’t let an Alpha this close for years, I bet. Bet they chase after you in droves.”

 

“Never.”

 

Geoff froze. “What?”

 

“I’ve _never_ let an Alpha this close. Not many people at all, really.” He rested metal fingers over the man’s bare forearm and sighed again, lashes fluttering as he basked in the contact. “Can’t trust them down there.”

 

Geoff clenched his eyes shut and rested his forehead in dark hair. “Shit. You trust me, kid?”

 

“Yeah?” Dan raised his head, brow pinched up and cute mouth pursed. It made Geoff’s heart skip. “Shouldn’t I?”

 

“No.” Geoff dropped his hands back down to the Omega’s waist. “You shouldn’t, Dan.”

 

The sound of his name yanked him out of his own head. Dan turned and came face to face with the CEO. Geoff’s eyes were suddenly so tired, a frown marring his face. “Does it make me more or less valuable that I’ve never slept with anyone?”

 

“It doesn’t matter, it _shouldn’t_ matter.” Geoff ran a heavy hand over his face. “Shit, kid.”

 

Dan’s nose scrunched up. “Not everyone on Earth is fucking everything that moves, Geoff.”

 

“Guess not,” Geoff huffed with a fake smile.

 

“So you assumed?”

 

“I didn’t bring you here to fuck you,” Geoff bit out, temper flaring. “I wanted to see you and the tech, to make sure you were fucking _happy_.”

 

“And all this?” Dan shot back, gesturing between them.

 

Geoff growled and grabbed his shoulders, surging forward and slamming him against the glass. Dan gasped sharply but there was no pain. The sudden surge of excitement brought back his blush and he stared at Geoff. He could barely stop himself from scanning the Alpha with his ECHO eye to take measure of his vitals and pheromone signatures.

 

“I want to scent you.”

 

Dan’s throat closed up. “What?”

 

“I want to scent with you,” Geoff restated, hands softening to a caress on the Omega’s shoulders. “And it’s not something I’ve done for a long ass time. I’m Handsome Geoff, for fuck’s sake, but I don’t want it unless _you_ want it.”

 

“Oh.” Dan picked up his jaw and floundered. The words were straight out of his ridiculously romantic fantasies. “That’s rather...intimate, sir.”

 

“ _Geoff_ . I told you. It’s _Geoff_ , kiddo.” He patted the Omega’s cheek. “I’m going to be upfront with you right now. No games. No shit doubletalk. I want to take care of you, and I mean it. I want to give you that job and anything else you need, money or otherwise, I want you to come to me. I don’t want sex. I don’t want anything except this…”

 

Dan didn’t know what to expect. To be strangled? Thrown down and fucked? A kiss? His heart fluttered in anticipation at the last one. Handsome Geoff was going to-!

 

Geoff tenderly kissed his throat and all the breath was stolen out of his lungs. The Alpha rumbled quietly and started to to nuzzle at his neck, dragging his stubbled cheek against right under his ear. Small kisses were peppered all along his throat and the first touch of a tongue made the Omega jump. But that deep, Alpha sound soothed his frazzled nerves and he melted against the glass. Geoff was _scenting_ him. Broad palms cupped his hips again but it felt so much more intimate now, cradling him as he licked hot stripes up to his scent gland. They were already swelling for the Alpha and the first scrape of teeth made him moan. Geoff felt so warm up against, so solid and _confident._

 

Dan carded his fingers through grey-flecked hair and tilted his head back. It had been so long since an Alpha had tried to scent him. Before this it was something he’d only ever seen in hubs. He couldn’t fathom from just watching how carnal and _personal_ it was. Geoff’s wet lips were dragging all over his throat, melding their scents, bristled cheek scrubbing against whatever he could find. A ring of chaste kisses spread above his collar and his head was gently tilted to expose the other side to be given the same loving attention.  

 

Thumbs slid up under his shirt, barely touching the jut of his hips. It was a request, one he happily leaned into. Geoff’s pressed down and it anchored the Omega as his head swam. Little red marks were left over his pulse and puffy glands. Dan felt more drunk than when he’d splurged on a bottle of Mica’s wine. He was putty in the Alpha’s hands.

 

The Omega chittered mindlessly as he was too easily picked up under the thighs and spun around. Dan wrapped his legs around him to keep himself from falling but the Alpha held firm. Geoff sat down in his plush, leather desk chair and the Omega landed firmly in his lap. He straddled the CEO more comfortably and wrapped his arms around his neck, purring as he buried his face in Geoff’s throat. Shivers went all through him as he breathed in the Alpha. The all too familiar smell of gun oil, smoke, and when he parted his lips to lick he could taste copper beneath the Alpha musk.

 

It should’ve been unpleasant but he found himself only craving more.

 

Geoff listened to the Omega’s gorgeous little chitters and slew of happy noises. He rubbed his hands over Dan’s back and let himself trace the jut of his shoulder blades all the way down to the dip of his back. The Omega snuggled into him and warmth spread through his chest, smile curling his lips. “Daddy’s going to take care of everything from now on, kitten. I don’t want anything from you.”

 

Dan picked his head up, trying and failing to clear his head. “Nothing?”

 

“Well, _this_ ,” Geoff teased, brushing their cheeks. “And I want you to help me make guns.”

 

Dan giggled and Geoff locked the precious sound away. “Why me?”

 

“Why not?” Geoff countered, fingers rubbing soothing circles along the back.

 

“Handsome Geoff,” Dan murmured in his ear with a playful lilt. “I didn’t know I could be this happy.”

 

That punched Geoff in the stomach.

 

“Goddamn, kitten, you are the _sweetest_ little thing.” He splayed his hand just below the Omega’s nape and hummed to himself. “And you’re all mine now.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
